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Newspaper delivered a family’s livelihood

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Marilyn Stanton remembered how Standard-Speaker subscribers would call her home to ask why their newspapers were being delivered late.

Her son, Richard Kott, was their paperboy — and he was dropping off the news later than usual.

What caused the delay, Stanton said, was a fire at the former H.F. Grebey Junior High School in 1976.

“The building became unusable for a while and the children had to share Harman Junior High with their students,” said Stanton, Hazle Township. “Harman kids went to school in the morning and Grebey kids in the afternoon.”

Kott was a student at Grebey, which meant that his school day didn’t end until 5 p.m. Most customers were used to having their newspapers before then.

“Needless to say, his customers were very unhappy,” Stanton said, remembering the telephone calls.

Stanton’s mother, the late Mae Yost, was in her 60s at the time and volunteered to take the route until her grandson’s schedule returned to normal.

But as it turned out, the teenager didn’t want to deliver anymore, so Yost continued with the route, dropping off papers to more than 50 customers in the area of Chestnut and Mine streets.

“She and her dog, Brownie, kept the route going for many more years, and she retired in her late 70s,” Stanton said. The two were featured in a Standard-Speaker article and photograph prior to her retirement.

Stanton also noted that her late husband, Lester Stanton, was employed by the newspaper and its former owners, the Walser family, for 47 years.

He started as an apprentice and retired in 1996 after serving as the foreman of the composing department for 28 years.

“The Walsers treated their employees and their families very well,” she said. “So my family is really indebted to the Standard-Speaker, as the newspaper was a part of our lives for a long time.”

jwhalen@standardspeaker.com

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